This invention relates to an integrated circuit for an air intake manifold and a method of manufacturing such a device.
An air intake manifold distributes air to a vehicle engine""s cylinders. The manifold is generally located over the engine in the engine compartment of a vehicle such as an automobile. As a consequence, the manifold is in close proximity to various electrical components of the vehicle engine such as fuel injectors, the electric throttle body, throttle position sensors, idle air controller, and air temperature and pressure sensors.
In the past, electric wire harnesses have been used to conduct electricity to and from these electrical components. These wire harnesses are expensive to manufacture and assemble on the vehicle engine. They further are bulky and open to damage from abrasives in the vehicle engine""s environment such as heat and chemicals.
Recently, due to the increased use of plastic in the manufacture of an air intake manifold and its proximity to these electrical components, manufacturers investigated or attempted integrating wire into the plastic air intake manifold. The wire itself is embedded into the plastic body of the manifold during the molding process. While the plastic of the manifold protects the wiring from the engine compartment""s hostile environment and provides support and mounting for the harness, this product and method of manufacture is undesirable in several respects. In particular, manufacturers have difficulty controlling the location of the wiring while molding the plastic manifold. As a consequence, there is a greater chance of making a part with defective wiring. Scrap rates are thereby increased.
Moreover, manufacturers have greater difficulty recycling the plastic manifold because of the embedded metal in the manifold. If the manifold is recycled, the wiring within the manifold must be removed prior to reclaiming the plastic. This problem not only increases the cost of producing such a manifold but also makes recycling old manifolds cost prohibitive.
A need therefore exists for an air intake manifold with an integrated wiring system but without the foregoing production and recycling problems.
In a disclosed embodiment, the invention comprises a vehicle engine component with at least one conductor and foam mounting the conductor to the vehicle engine component. The vehicle engine component is preferably an air intake manifold.
The invention further may include an electrical connector that connects the conductor to the electric system of the vehicle engine. The connector may connect to a controller, such as an engine control unit, an engine sensor like an air temperature gauge or a pressure sensor, an electric throttle body and related components, or a fuel injector. The conductor is preferably a flex cable while the foam used to mount the conductor is preferably plastic.
The invention is manufactured very simply. A vehicle engine component is wired as desired and foam in fluid form is injected onto the engine component and the wiring. As the foam dries, it locks the location of the wiring and creates a protective shell for the wiring from the engine""s hostile environment.
Because the wiring is set prior to foaming, this method of manufacture avoids the problem of attempting to control the location of the wiring during the molding process. The plastic of the vehicle engine component remains recyclable because the wiring is no longer embedded in the plastic itself. In this way, the benefits of an integrated air intake manifold and circuit are realized at a significantly lower production cost.